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Immigration Updates

Welcome students, This term, OIE will be giving relevant immigration updates to you via iBuzz. Any iBuzz issue with the email subject line “OIE Immigration Updates” will have VERY important immigration updates for you to personally consider. Please be sure to read these carefully and contact us with any questions or concerns at info@oie.gatech.edu. iBuzz emails can be found here.

Important Message from the University System of Georgia

On May 11, 2018 USCIS announced a significant policy change affecting individuals in F and J status, which is expected to go into effect on August 9, 2018. Any student or scholar in F or J status who fails to maintain their immigration status before or after August 9, 2018 will now begin accruing unlawful presence on the earliest of any of the following:• The day after they no longer pursue the course of study or the authorized activity, or the day after they engage in an unauthorized activity;• The day after completing the course of study or program, including any authorized practical training plus any authorized grace period;• The day after the I-94 expires; or• The day after an immigration judge, or in certain cases, the Board of Immigration Appeals, orders them excluded, deported, or removed (whether or not the decision is appealed).

Traditionally individuals in F and J immigration status have been granted entry to the U.S. in “D/S” status or “duration of status,” which was interpreted such as unlawful presence would not accrue except in the case that a formal finding of a status violation was noted by a DHS officer or an immigration judge in the course of removal proceedings. As noted above, students will now begin accruing unlawful presence at the time they violate their F or J status or their SEVIS record is terminated.

Once more than 180 days of unlawful presence has accrued, a student or scholar in F or J status could be barred from the U.S. for 3 to 10 years. Those that accrue more than one year of unlawful presence could incur a permanent bar from the U.S.

Please see the message below from the University System of Georgia’s Vice Chancellor for Legal Affairs regarding the U.S. Supreme Court’s travel ban decision on 6/26/2018.

Dear Colleagues:

As you know, today the United States Supreme Court issued a ruling upholding the President’s authority to impose entry restrictions into the United States for foreign nationals of certain countries. The Department of Homeland Security is the lead federal agency charged with implementing this authority and as details become clearer regarding its implementation we will share that information as quickly and broadly as possible to our institutions. We encourage students, faculty and staff who are foreign nationals of one of the affected countries to continue to closely monitor information as it becomes available as to how the ruling applies to them. In addition, we strongly encourage them to reach out to their campus office of international education should they have questions, particularly about any planned international travel.